I’m all for advances in technology, especially when it makes a job easier, or eliminates unnecessary aspects of tedium.  And I understand concepts such as efficiency when it comes to contact centers - the more customers you can handle in a shorter period of time, the less expensive it is.

But I still haven’t had a good online chat experience.  Here’s today’s example, with an catalog company called Personal Creations:

The time between “personal shopper is joining you now” and “you are now chatting with Sarah” was a good 3 minutes.  The time between “it is probably best” and “thank you goodbye” was about 1.5 seconds.

The issues I have with this:

1. She assumes I’m looking for an approximate shipping date.  Maybe this is because she COMPLETELY IGNORED MY REQUEST.  She probably had other steamy instant messages going on with her prison pen pals in another window and I was interrupting.
2. I didn’t get to explain my issue.  Maybe she was doing her nails and only uses the mouse, no keyboard.
3. I didn’t get to complain about the bad service.  After the “chat session has ended” I couldn’t do anything - not send another line, not give feedback, not call a supervisor, nothing.  How can I rip someone a new one if they’re not there?

Thanx for nothing, Personal Creations!  We’ll see if we spend our hundreds and hundreds of holiday dollars with you next time.

Oh, and on top of that, I call the number, wait for 10 minutes and when they answer the first thing they tell me is that if I placed the order within the last two hours, I have to WAIT two hours for the order to be in their system.  I let them know that I can view the order fine on the web site, but she assures me that she can’t do anything for two hours.  Oh, and if I want to make a change, I have to call before the end of the day, because once it’s in the warehouse, there’s no changing.

Do you think it was really a real person? Not a robot?

Dave2, good point - I can tell she was using macros at the very least. I think that the 3 minute delay in connecting me makes it more likely yo be a macro-enabled person, and we at our company use the same software (liveperson) and it doesn’t support robots, only macros.

Now that I think about it, I should inquire into the support experience our own company is giving our customers….

Three words: Better Business Bureau.

Have a nice day! Good Bye!

I’ve had some good experience with online chat, but I would have gotten right back on with someone on that site and complained.

That is pretty bad. I usually get good customer support via the online thing. I am lucky, I would surmise. Good thing I don’t have kids that I have get stuff personalized for… Go uterine ablasion!

Poppy, well, I tend to use BBB for things like fraudulent claims or failure to render product after paying. This case is more along the lines of “they suck at customer service” which would be a job for PlanetFeedback.com if they’re still around. Yup, just checked. They’re still around. In fact, I just posted a shared letter pointing to this blog entry http://www.planetfeedback.com/index.php?level2=blog_viewpost&topic_id=304708

Avitable, I guess you’ll cut off my feet below the ankles, then my hands at the wrists, next my nose. And, then my tongue I suppose. I killed you too quickly the last time; a mistake I don’t mean to duplicate tonight.

Absurdist, ok I admit I had to go look up ablasion. And couldn’t find it. I did find ablation tho, and well, um, yuck. I will say, however, that when I did call again to fix the personalization thing the person on the phone was pleasant.

My evil plan to get you to act upon said poor service has succeeded!

Purrty tree

I have had the WORST time with Personal Creations. I ordered 10 items for Christmas Gifts (on Nov 1st) and I STILL don’t have them. I have been calling, sending emails through their site to try to talk with someon and doing the on line chat thing… NOTHING. It is almost like someone is running it from their basement. Seriously. The only thing I wanted was to talk with a manager, but no matter what I do or the method I use, they REFUSE to let you speak to anyone who could actually give you the informaiton you need… I am BEYOND frustrated at their POOR Customer Service. The WORST I have ever seen.

They have the WORST customer service…an order was place on 12/3, and they say the maximum amount of time the order will arrive is within 14days!! and it has already been 20days!! this is
outrageous. I can never get a hold of anyone on their customer service line( all I can get is a msg stating that their lines are busy and to call back– i cannot get a reply through email as well and their live chat literally need major help!!! ….I will report this to BBB and will encourage future buyers to look elsewhere…not worth your money or TIME!!!

Right there with you - I am never orderring from Personal Creations again. I have been having a terrible time even getting a hold of someone - when you call customer service, a message says all circuits are busy. (ALL HOURS OF THE DAY) I order two items that they said would definitely be here well before Christmas, given I ordered them in Nov. and they aren’t here. Also, I placed an order of the same item a few days after the first order (same thing) and that one came about a week ago. The order status of the first order says its still in the personalization area. I tried to chat with the online chat person about it but she said a) she couldn’t help b) she didn’t know which staff I could be referred to c) how long it would take if I emailed to have a return call (which I emailed several times in the past few weeks). VERY ANNOYED - and never going through this company again. There are plenty of other cool companies out there that VALUE their customers.